Introduction to the Qinghai-Tibet Railway

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has created many of the world's highest railways. It was fully opened to traffic on July 1, 2006.

The Chinese have built the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the highest railway in the world. At the same time, the completion of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway also set a series of historical records for world railways.

1. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the highest plateau railway in the world: the railway passes through sections above 4,000 meters above sea level for 960 kilometers, with the highest point being 5,072 meters above sea level.

2. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is also the longest plateau railway in the world: the Golmud-Lhasa section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway passes through the Gobi desert, swamp wetlands and snow-capped mountains and grasslands, with a total mileage of 1,142 kilometers.

3. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is also the longest plateau railway in the world that crosses frozen soil: the railway crosses 550 kilometers of continuous frozen soil for many years.

4. Tanggula Mountain Station, with an altitude of 5,068 meters, is the highest railway station in the world.

5. The Fenghuoshan Tunnel at an altitude of 4,905 meters is the highest frozen soil tunnel in the world.

6. The Kunlun Mountain Tunnel, with a total length of 1,686 meters, is the longest plateau frozen soil tunnel in the world.

7. The Anduo paving base with an altitude of 4,704 meters is the highest paving base in the world.

8. The Qingshui River Bridge with a total length of 11.7 kilometers is the longest plateau frozen soil railway bridge in the world.

9. After completion, the speed of the frozen soil section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway will reach 100 kilometers per hour, and the non-frozen soil section will reach 120 kilometers per hour. This is currently the highest train speed on the world's plateau frozen soil railway.

The construction of the Golmud-Lhasa section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway started on June 29, 2001, and was put into trial operation in July 2006. (End)

How does the Qinghai-Tibet Railway ensure the free migration of wild animals

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the habitat of rare wild animals in my country. In order not to affect the free migration of wild animals, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway construction unit 33 wildlife crossings have been established.

The establishment of wildlife crossings has long been practiced in foreign engineering construction, and has even been regulated by legal means. At present, European and American countries have enacted very strict laws and regulations. Highway and railway projects that pass through animal habitats can only be approved by the transportation department. They cannot be launched without the appraisal of the environmental protection department.

Countries around the world adopt different methods to set up passages for wild animals: North America prefers to dig "passages under the road" for wild animals, allowing small animals such as frogs and snakes to walk through tubular culverts, and large animals such as reindeer and wild sheep to pass through. Culverts under bridges; Europeans prefer to build upper-span "overpasses" for large animals and plant vegetation on them to simulate natural hillside terrain. Europeans call them "green bridges." Some international projects are now not only focusing on large mammals and reptiles, but are also beginning to consider presetting dedicated passages for birds, insects, etc.

Huang Difu, commander of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Construction Headquarters, said that during the design of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, in order not to affect the life and migration of wild animals, for railway lines passing through nature reserves such as Hoh Xil and Qiangtang, Avoidance plans should be adopted as much as possible; at the same time, according to the living habits and migration patterns of wild animals along the line, wildlife passages have been set up in corresponding areas to ensure the normal life, migration and reproduction of wild animals.

According to Li Jincheng, the general designer of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, there are 25 and 8 wildlife passages in the Tangbei and Tangnan sections of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway respectively. For alpine mountain fauna, passages above tunnels are mainly used. ; For alpine grassland meadow fauna, it mainly takes the form of passages passing under bridges and on gentle slopes of roadbeds. The construction of a wildlife crossing is the first time in the history of railway construction in my country.

Monitoring by the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Headquarters shows that Tibetan antelopes have adapted to the artificial migration environment, and large numbers of Tibetan antelopes migrate freely through wildlife passages. (End)

Why is the Qinghai-Tibet line the first choice for the railway to Tibet?

When my country was building the railway to Tibet, relevant experts put forward four plans for the railway to Tibet, namely: Qinghai The Qinghai-Tibet line to Tibet, the Gansu-Tibet line from Gansu to Tibet, the Sichuan-Tibet line from Sichuan to Tibet and the Yunnan-Tibet line from Yunnan to Tibet. So why is the Qinghai-Tibet line the first choice for the railway to Tibet?

According to Li Jincheng, the overall designer of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has obvious advantages compared with several other railways into Tibet.

First of all, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has the shortest construction mileage. As early as 1979, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway had completed the first phase of the 845-kilometer-long project from Xining City to Golmud City in Qinghai Province. The Golmud-Lhasa section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway approved by the State Council has a total length of 1,110 kilometers. Compared with the 1,960 kilometers of the Yunnan-Tibet Line, the 2,211 kilometers of the Gansu-Tibet Line, and the 2,015 kilometers of the Sichuan-Tibet Line, it is the shortest stretch. Moreover, the completion and operation of the first phase of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway project has provided rich experience for the new Qinghai-Tibet Railway line. ?

Secondly, the investment amount of the Qinghai-Tibet line is small. Due to the short mileage, gentle terrain, few bridges and tunnels of the Qinghai-Tibet line, the investment amount is the least among the four lines into Tibet. Calculated based on the price level in 1995, the investment in the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was less than 20 billion yuan, while the static investment in the Yunnan-Tibet Railway was estimated at 65.4 billion yuan, the investment in the Gansu-Tibet Railway was 64 billion yuan, and the investment in the Sichuan-Tibet Railway was 76.8 billion yuan.

The construction geological conditions of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway are relatively good, the engineering volume is minimal, and the engineering technical difficulties have been basically solved. Comparing the length and density of bridges and tunnels on the four lines entering Tibet, the Qinghai-Tibet line has relatively few bridges and tunnels. After years of research, experts have mastered some basic solutions to the problem of plateau frozen soil in Qinghai-Tibet Railway engineering technology. ?

In addition, the Qinghai-Tibet Line also has the shortest construction period and will basically be open to traffic all year round after completion. According to expert calculations, it will take about 6 years to complete the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, 32 years for the Gansu-Tibet Line and Yunnan-Tibet Line, and 38 years for the Sichuan-Tibet Line. Based on the experience in the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway will not suffer disasters such as collapses, debris flows, landslides, and geothermal heat that occur on other lines due to complex geological conditions, and it will basically be open to traffic all year round. ?

Therefore, national policymakers and experts have reached a consensus that the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has the shortest mileage, the least investment, the fastest construction speed and the best geological conditions. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway should become the first choice for the railway to Tibet. . In addition to various engineering and technical considerations, ending the history of no railway in the Tibet Autonomous Region, improving transportation conditions in Tibetan areas, accelerating the development of ethnic economies in Qinghai and Tibet provinces, and promoting ethnic unity are all important factors for the country's first choice for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. (End)

How to solve three major global problems in the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway

The construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway faces three major global problems: high cold and hypoxia, permafrost, and ecological fragility. After four years of continuous efforts, the builders of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway have made breakthrough progress in solving three major global problems.

The 1,100-kilometer-long Qinghai-Tibet Railway crosses the uninhabited areas of Hoh Xil and Tanggula Mountains. In most areas, the oxygen content is only about 50% of sea level, and extreme temperatures can reach -40°C. Living and working on the plateau may cause life-threatening altitude sickness at any time.

The construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway insists on putting people first and puts forward the slogan of "survive first, then produce". Tertiary medical institutions have been established along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, with 115 medical institutions and more than 600 medical personnel. Employees who are sick can receive effective treatment within half an hour.

The construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway created a miracle in the history of human oxygen production. 17 oxygen-generating stations have been established along the line. Each of the 40,000 employees must inhale oxygen for an average of no less than 2 hours a day. 25 hyperbaric oxygen chambers have been installed along the line. Due to strong health protection, the success rate of rescue for acute altitude sickness such as cerebral edema and pulmonary edema has reached 100%, the incidence rate has been basically stable at about 7 per thousand, and there has not been a single death from altitude sickness.

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway passes through 550 kilometers of permafrost areas. Frozen soil refers to various rocks and soils with temperatures below 0°C and containing ice. Frozen soil expands when it freezes in winter and shrinks when it melts in summer. The repeated action of these two phenomena will cause the roadbed to crack or collapse.

Experts have creatively adopted corresponding countermeasures to solve the problems of frozen soil construction: avoiding areas and lines where unfavorable frozen soil phenomena develop; for high-temperature and extremely unstable frozen soil areas, adopting "bridges instead of roads" "; During the construction, many facilities such as hot rods, gravel ventilation subgrade, gravel ventilation berms, ventilation pipe subgrade, and insulation boards were used to improve the stability of the frozen soil roadbed. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway can be called the "museum" of frozen soil engineering .

Zhang Luxin, leader of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Construction Expert Group, said: "The possibility of large-scale frozen soil engineering diseases on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in the future is small, and the driving speed can reach 100 kilometers per hour, realizing the 'train' proposed by the Ministry of Railways. The three major goals of shortest running time on the entire line, maintenance-free driving equipment, and basically realizing unmanned management along the line are promising. ”

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the birthplace of the world’s largest rivers, with a pristine and unique ecological environment. And fragile. When designing the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, attention was paid to minimizing the impact on the ecology. In the nature reserve, the railway lines are planned according to the principle of "avoiding detours if possible". The construction sites, access roads, and sand and gravel quarries of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway are all located. After repeated reconnaissance, it was determined that damage to vegetation should be avoided as much as possible. For areas where vegetation is difficult to grow, a section-by-section transplantation method will be used during construction. In order to ensure the normal life, migration and reproduction of wild animals, 33 wildlife passages have been built across the entire line. The investment in environmental protection in the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is approximately 1.1 billion yuan.

Surveys by the State Environmental Protection Administration and other departments show that since the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway began, the water environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has been in a good state of maintenance, and the ecological environment has not been significantly affected. (End)

What will you feel when riding the plateau train?

After the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is fully opened to traffic in July 2006, what will you feel when riding the future plateau train?

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway passes through sections above 4,000 meters above sea level for 960 kilometers. According to Li Jincheng, the chief designer of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, there are 34 stations in the Gela section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, and there are 9 sightseeing platforms in these stations. Each sightseeing platform will have a specially built platform 500 meters long and 1.25 meters high for passengers to see far and near. This railway line, the highest in the world, passes through the Kunlun Mountains, the Tanggula Mountains, and the Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains, and winds along the sources of the three rivers, wetlands, and Cona Lake. The magnificent scenery is unparalleled. The establishment of an observation deck is a unique and creative step in the history of railway construction. If you take the Qinghai-Tibet Railway sightseeing train, you can stop to take photos and linger at every scenic spot.

According to the person in charge of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company, the appearance of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway shows that tens of millions of square meters of turf have been transplanted and cultivated on both sides of the roadbed, forming a green corridor across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. At the same time, the station's architecture, station name and some tunnels fully reflect the Tibetan cultural characteristics, integrating the railway with the beautiful natural environment along the line and becoming a beautiful landscape. After opening, the train can reach a speed of 120 kilometers per hour on general road sections and 100 kilometers per hour on frozen soil sections. This means that the travel time from Golmud in Qinghai to Lhasa in Tibet will not exceed 12 hours.

The locomotives running on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway are specially made. The fully enclosed trains not only have supercharging and oxygenation functions, but can also provide passengers with catering, ethnic customs performances, and medical services. BSP, a joint venture of Canada's Bombardier in Qingdao, China, will jointly manufacture the first batch of passenger cars for the Qinghai-Tibet Line with Nanfang Si Locomotive Co., Ltd. According to Zhang Jianwei, chief representative of Bombardier in China, due to the special geographical environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the plateau train configuration is almost the same as that of an airplane. Each train is equipped with two sets of oxygen supply systems. One system mixes the air in the air-conditioning system to increase the oxygen content of each train by 23%. The other system allows passengers to directly use an independent interface to inhale oxygen. The luxury sightseeing train has single or family rooms with beautiful interiors, comfortable adjustable sofas and chairs, and UV protective film viewing windows. Coupled with attentive services, passengers feel like they are staying in a five-star hotel.